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December 2012
The articles link to the specific page in a PDF optimised for speed. If you want the whole issue, you can download it here, but the files from earlier years can be quite large.
December 2012
Page 1
Page 1
This section discusses the British Sundial Society's new Most Enjoyed Article Award encouraging members to vote for their favourite articles from Volume 24. The award aims to recognise authors, inspire new contributors, and guide the editor in tailoring future issues to readership preferences. It underscores the importance of member engagement in shaping the Bulletin's content.
The BSS and Members
December 2012
Page 2
Page 2
This article details the history and journey of a Henry Moore sundial, from its 1965 commission for The Times in London to its re-alignment in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany. It covers the creation of models, its sale, damage, recovery after theft in 2012, and precise re-installation, highlighting its remarkable travels and survival.
Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials, Restoration projects, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 5
Page 5
The article describes a 1591 horizontal sundial from Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, now in the Hall museum. Likely made by a clockmaker to regulate an early clock, the 300mm diameter dial displays hours and half-hours with its delineation origin correctly centred, correcting a historical misrepresentation in a previous sketch.
Dials: Horizontal, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 6
Page 6
This third part traces sundials attributed to 17th-century Scottish stonemason James Gifford, following Thomas Ross's research. It examines various cube-and-sphere dials in West Linton and Newhall House, as well as the intricate multi-faceted dial at Lennoxlove, detailing their designs, numerals, and historical context within the Scottish Borders region.
Dials: Cube, Dials: Multi Faced, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 9
Page 9
This article discusses lichens on stone sundials, defining them as symbiotic organisms and classifying their external forms. It explores their slow growth, substrate preferences, reproduction, and sensitivity to pollution. The author considers whether lichens enhance antiquity or are a disfigurement, touching on removal methods for restorers.
Historical Dials, Restoration projects
December 2012
Page 11
Page 11
This section features two letters: Michael Lowne corrects a misconception regarding the alignment of the Plough's pointer stars with the pole star for planispheric nocturnals, impacting time readings. Steven Woodbury provides observations and a solution for the Dutch Polyhedral Dial drawing, noting its equatorial and polar dials and non-latitude specificity.
Dials: Multi Faced, Dials: Nocturnals
December 2012
Page 12
Page 12
The article examines unusual 18th-century equatorial dials by Gerhard Kloppenburgh and Gerhard Cremer, made of gold-plated brass. It details their summer and winter sides, including hour lines, zodiac signs, and global noon times. The author discusses peculiar reversed Roman numerals, possible origins in northern Germany, and an anomaly in numeral thickness.
Dials: Equatorial, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 15
Page 15
This section showcases several contemporary sundials, including a Corian® vertical dial in Pocklington by Stephen Holehan, based on an 1854 design. It also highlights analemmatic dials by Douglas Hunt's Modern Sunclocks for public sites and playgrounds, and a tile-based dial from High Peak Community Arts in Ston, Croatia.
Construction Projects, Dials: Analemmatic, Dials: Vertical, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 16
Page 16
This article describes a fused glass noon dial by Adele Christensen for a Gloucestershire client, indicating 12:00 BST on Midsummer's Day via a narrow slit of sunlight. The author also notes a similar Millennium design, the Lockinge Ring by David Harber in Oxfordshire, which uses a mirror for true noon.
Construction Projects, Dials: Noon Lines, Dials: Reflected, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 17
Page 17
This entry discusses an undated postcard featuring a Dolland sundial in St Peter's churchyard, Bexhill, recorded as missing its gnomon. The image, by A. D. Hellier (1909-1938), shows the gnomon and an intriguing arc above it, raising questions about its purpose—whether support, another dial, or for raising the stone.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 18
Page 18
This article details a small, robust lead sundial, 51.5mm in diameter, found in the River Avon at Barford. Dated between the late 16th and late 17th centuries, its equi-angular, anticlockwise numbered hour-lines suggest a vertical dial, possibly an attempt at an equal-hour dial by a provincial artisan lacking scientific knowledge, with possible initials C W.
Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 20
Page 20
This article investigates the cross-shaped reflections from double-glazed windows, attributing them to the concavity of the glass panes. Optical analysis reveals radial slope profiles and contour maps, showing a central depression. The phenomenon is likely caused by a partial vacuum inside the units, bending the glass inwards, forming distinct V-shaped patterns on narrow windows.
Dials: Reflected, How Sundials Work
December 2012
Page 21
Page 21
The article describes a 6ft high red sandstone cubic sundial atop an 8ft standing stone north of Luncarty, Perth & Kinross. Situated in a field, the dial's numerals and hour lines are indistinct, but gnomon holes are visible. Its century-long presence and origins remain a mystery.
Dials: Cube, Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 22
Page 22
This article discusses mass dials on the north side of churches, specifically at Litlington and Firle in East Sussex. While a south-facing dial at Litlington is an early scientific dial, two north-facing mass dials, initially puzzling, were observed to work perfectly for evening use in summer, suggesting intentional placement.
Dials: Mass Dials, Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials, How Sundials Work
December 2012
Page 23
Page 23
This article details a project to map over 500 excavated Greco-Roman sundials across the Roman Empire using GIS. It describes georeferencing historical maps, digitising province boundaries, and creating a database to display sundials by location, type, shape, and period, thereby analysing them in their geographic context.
Sundial Design & Layout, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 26
Page 26
This article reports on nine previously unrecorded or undocumented sundials. Highlights include a 1723 vertical dial at Windsor Castle, a Scottish-style cube dial at Restoration House, a pre-1752 horizontal dial by John Davis of Windsor, and various vertical, geographical, and unusual fixed horizontal analemmatic dials across England.
Dials: Cube, Dials: Horizontal, Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 28
Page 28
This report summarises the BSS Newbury Meeting, covering presentations on John Davis's "Mystery Welsh Sundial," Doug Bateman's "Romeo & Juliet Sundial," Kevin Karney's "Getting the Numbers Right" on dial layouts, and John Foad's project to put BSS Register dials online.
How Sundials Work, Mathematics of Dialling, Sundial Design & Layout, The BSS and Members
December 2012
Page 30
Page 30
This article details the construction of a large garden sundial at Chestnut Cottage, Essex, by Richard and Judy Cecil. It covers civil engineering aspects, from site surveys and drainage to concrete work, and the precise setting out of hour lines and the stainless steel gnomon, incorporating a polar version of the equation of time.
Sundial Design & Layout, Construction Projects, Equation of Time, DIY Sundial Projects
December 2012
Page 34
Page 34
This article describes the restoration of a 19th-century Negretti & Zambra noon cannon sundial. The author recreated missing brass parts, noting design anomalies like incorrect latitude calibration and an inappropriate date scale. The true maker and date remain uncertain, highlighting the common practice of firms selling goods made by others.
Dials: Noon Lines, Historical Dials, Restoration projects, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 36
Page 36
This report details the British Sundial Society's 2012 safari to Catalonia, covering visits to numerous sundials across Girona, Cabrils, Figueres, Barcelona, and other towns. Members explored diverse dials, including modern pillar dials, Salvador Dali's carved stone dial, multi-faceted and unusual museum pieces, showcasing the region's rich gnomonic heritage.
Dials: Multi Faced, Dials: Unusual, Historical Dials, The BSS and Members
December 2012
Page 40
Page 40
This article revisits the Celtic Quartet of medieval mass dials, noting their unusual carving on separate stones. It introduces a newly discovered, similar slate dial from Vardøhus, Norway, dated 1480–1550, expanding the Quartet to six or seven examples and highlighting historical maritime trade connections between the regions where these dials are found.
Dials: Horizontal, Dials: Portable, Historical Dials, Dials: Mass Dials
December 2012
Page 41
Page 41
The article discusses helical sundials, particularly one made by Aylmer Astbury. These are a form of equatorial dial, with a brass strip helix marking hours via small holes or a terminator shadow. They can be adjusted for longitude and Equation of Time by rotating the helix on its axis, as explained in a 1992 Bulletin article.
Dials: Equatorial, Dials: Unusual, How Sundials Work, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 41
Page 41
This entry describes a modern sundial from 1843 in the courtyard of the Mosque of Uqba (Great Mosque of Kairouan) in Tunisia. Engraved in Arabic script on a marble slab, it was designed by Almed Essoussi, inspired by Ibn al-Shatir's dial. It uses four separate point gnomons to indicate prayer times.
Dials: Unusual, Dials: Vertical, Historical Dials
December 2012
Page 42
Page 42
This article addresses methods for securely fixing sundials, focusing on preventing theft and damage. It discusses replacing rusted iron gnomons with stainless steel, using shaped stone blocks with acrylic paste, and cross-bolting for heavy gnomons. For dial plates, methods include recessing them into plinths and using threaded holes with retaining bolts.
Construction Projects, Restoration projects, Sundial Design & Layout
December 2012
Page 46
Page 46
The author recounts creating a limestone sundial for a customer near Moscow, inspired by John Tenniel's illustration for Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. The dial, one English foot in diameter, measures local time and GMT + 4, and includes a scale for true solar time on the meridian of Lewis Carroll’s birthplace.
Construction Projects, Dials: Horizontal, Mottoes
December 2012
Page 47
Page 47
This article details the 2012 reconstruction of the Meridies Media noon mark mean time sundial at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Originally designed by Dr Tadeusz Przypkowski in 1967 with a design error, the new Kirkstone slate dial, carved by Ben Jones, was meticulously crafted and unveiled on 10 October 2012.
Restoration projects, The BSS and Members, Dials: Noon Lines